Sunday, 26 July 2015

On our
customary trip round the lochs prior to fishing we noticed a mini digger on the
shore of the loch next to Rodono and assumed some work was being carried out
there. Throughout the day snippets of information led us to the true reason for
its presence!

It appears
that the Regional Council have decided to route the new circular loch walk
along Rodono bay with entry next to Rodono and the exit just after the big
lay-by . The section looks like it will run along the shoreline going by the digger’s
tracks so far!

Quite apart
from anything else this area in winter is often flooded and unless it is
solidly constructed will be washed away in no time! That however is not the
point! We administer the fishing on the loch and after checking round none of
the club officials have been contacted regarding these works!

Now common
courtesy demands that any groups or individuals be consulted on issues which
have the potential to affect them! Our Pike anglers generally sit back from the
water’s edge with their rod holders beside them and the lines go over the area where
this path is to be situated. Our Trout anglers generally wade out into the water
but in the process of casting their flies the line whips back onto the shore.

It is well
within the possibilities that a quiet rambler could be struck by an angler’s
line, casting deep in concentration. The potential for injury is a real one and
I cannot for the life of me fathom out why anyone would seek to place a walkway
in this area! The construction of this path has in fact turned out to be a
fiasco! At the Village Hall the path crosses the main road on what is probably one
of the worst blind bends in the area!

The whole
process appears to be nothing short of a joke with a huge potential for injury!
How easy it would have been to consult with us on this topic which impinges on
our sport! We are miffed to put it
mildly and I will be on the phone to the Regional Council first thing tomorrow
to seek some answers!

Photo 02 - The secret path!

Some things never change!

A meeting
was held last week comprising of a drop in session at the Ormiston Institute in
Melrose. The session was scheduled to run from 11.00 until 15.00hrs, in fact it
went on until 15.30hrs. The vast majority of those attending were Salmon
fishery proprietors, Tweed Commissioners and Salmon anglers.

From the
other species standpoint the turnout was abysmal with only Hawick and Kelso
managing to attend! Granted it was good to see none of the “dissenters” (calico
printer types that have the answer to all things) attended thereby negating the
possibility of a complete furore! The mechanics of the meeting was
disappointing in that those closest to the panel and those who shouted loudest
got an unfair bite at the cherry!

Rather depressingly
the same old theme came up from various people with Salmon interests –“The
Tweed Commission works why change it?” To them I would say yes it works but
what is wrong in trying to make it better! Must we always be shackled by the
“It’s aye been “brigade!

It was
obvious that questions on the other species would be in the minority but I got
my questions in by persevering. It was said that the move towards other species
research may be much less than what many people think, but no figures could be
placed on funding for this at the moment!

I would
rather the Other Species group concentrate on Trout Pike and Eels for the most
part excluding coarse fish which are well catered for by English research
establishments. I have made this point exactly in my personal submission to the
review! Pleasing to some was that the introduction of a rod licence is not
currently on the agenda of the Scottish Government! Now this is all very well
but if improvements are sought how will they be paid for?

There are
two options either levy a fee on anglers (rod Licence) or do not offer any real
improvements. Anglers may yet rue this decision and the Scottish Government may
well come to regret a golden opportunity to raise funds to better our sport!
All other questions related to Salmon and the future of the Tweed Commission.
What clearly came out of the answers given was that change will take place the
status quo was not an option!

Central to
the above was that various directives regarding habitat and conservation were
being asked for by the EU and their point of contact would be the Scottish Government
and not the Tweed Commission! Therefore the Tweed Commission by whatever name
it goes under in the future will be accountable to the Scottish Government
which was one of the key points in our submission to the review! I hear also
that many of the representatives nominated by the council who sit on the Tweed
Commission are about to resign over the councils inability to come down either
in favour or against the wild Fisheries Review! They should go ahead as the
body will be dissolved and reconstituted with the reorganisation of the fishery
boards!

It is now
imperative for those angling clubs who have not made a submission to do so now!
The window for responses closes on August the seventh! As has been my
experience all through my angling life, apathy reigns supreme! Yes you will
always get the loudmouths and brags hollering and thumping the shopkeepers
counter, but when the chips are down they are nowhere to be seen! Some things never change!

Photo 03 - Les with the best of the day! Thanks Mike.

Brothers of the angle!

One of the
most enjoyable parts of a day at the lochs has just got to be our speakeasy
session at the end of the day where the high and low spots of our respective days
are recollected and everyone has a tale to tell. I look on all those gathered
as good friends each and every one of them an angler true to the values of old
Izaak!

Mike Christie
and Les Robson had spent the day up at Fruid and managed to tempt some fine
Trout. They joined Stevie, Pete, Aaron, Mr Xxxxx, Les and me for a blether, the photo above shows Les (well his hands anyway) with the best of the day and it is indeed a
very fine Brown Trout! Yes you might say anglers of the old school, each prepared to give of their best for their club, happy to carry out the unglamorous tasks essential to keep a club running. Each and
every one of them a true gent and in every case I would much rather spend a day
with them, than spend a day with any of the all knowing new age types!

Good in character, heart and soul,
pre requisites of calling oneself an angler!

The wider world in my view!

Welcome Scottish Secretary!

The Trussell
Trust in a rare moment of severe misjudgement invited Scottish Secretary David
Mundell to open a new food bank in Dumfries! Yes the town which already has a
well utilised food bank is to have another to cope with the ever increasing
numbers of poor people forced to use them by the implementation of Tory policy!

As would be
expected this did not go down well with the working people of Dumfries who have
a social conscience, and a group of protesters were there to greet him! Mundell
is rapidly turning into the Tory puppet capable only of reiterating the
preaching of Lord Snooty et al! The protesters of course were correct the
increase in food bank usage is directly related to the Tory cuts!

The Trussell
Trust’s own figures show that following the latest round of Tory cuts usage of
food banks has increased by over 400%! I don’t know who made the decision to
invite Mundell but whoever it was needs a good shake! A Tory toff opening a
food bank for the poor and needy smacks of the maister and the downtrodden
worker relationship! Mundell prior to this was wallowing in his glory of being
appointed Scottish Secretary! This protest by those who care would have woken
up his ideas and brought him back to earth with a bump! Just another clueless Tory automaton, what a pity he squeezed in by a
thread!

It’s even worse!

Yes indeed
the carry on with the Labour party seeking a new leader seems to get worse by
the day. Jeremy Corbyn has a significant lead and it looks like it will be
close right up to the line! What must be worrying for Labour is that two
distinct camps are emerging, Tory lite and eighties left!

What seems
to be emerging is the early stages of Labour breakup into two distinct
political parties none of which would be electable in England for that is where
the effect will be felt! By the time
this happens we will be independent and free of the buffoonery of Westminster! If
Labour cannot remain intact their future as an effective political party is in
severe jeopardy!

With all the
bickering comes disenchantment and the electorate will not ignore the
fragmentation that ensues. The Labour party will remain unelectable for a
generation at the very least! The Tories will remain in government not by good
governance but as the lesser of two evils! It is an unthinkable catastrophe but believe
me it’s coming. A Tory government in perpetuity for England! The very thought chills me to the bone!

Sunday, 19 July 2015

Difficulties
continue with contacting our loch keeper thanks to the poor mobile phone coverage
and erratic broadband service. We have in the past provided an alternative
number and e mail (mine) which will now be available only for matters not
related to booking fishing and
compliments/complaints etc. With immediate effect the alternative contact number for
bookings is no longer available and the only point of contact will be our loch
keeper!

This will
undoubtedly mean that the occasional spur of the moment trip may have to be
cancelled due to not being able to contact our loch keeper in time. You should
remember however it is acceptable to come down on spec and meet our loch keeper
at the loch, invariably establishing contact is easier within the area.

The best
plan however is to give yourself plenty time to plan your trip. If you cannot
establish contact immediately leave a message or e mail, most messages and
mails will be responded to within 24hrs below are the contact details you will
need

Mobile – 07724523777

E mail – lochkeeperstmarys@gmail.com

Photo 02 - Pre pack French drains to complete regulator work.

You could not make it up!

Last week on
our customary trip round the lochs we noticed a speedboat on a trailer at the
bottom of the Lowes on the cafe green. The rules imposed by the riparian owners
are clear that no boats are allowed on the lochs excepting the ones belonging
to the angling club or the sailing club. Riparian owners also have the right to
launch a boat if they so desire. The owner of the boat had been told by our loch keeper Mr Xxxxx that the boat was not permitted on either loch! Proprietors of the Glen Café Kath and Ian had also spoken to him.

All was
quiet during the day and the party were noted drinking and having a good time. It
was assumed they would be off in the morning as they had stopped off on their
way to loch Awe. A couple staying at the Tibbie reported that the sound of an
outboard engine was heard briefly around 11.30pm on the Lowes.

The following
morning there was no sign of the boaters excepting the boat trailer, something
however was breaking the surface of the loch. On investigation the white
protrusion was found to be the keel of the said powerboat sunk and abandoned
complete with engine 20ft underwater! A rescue operation taking over 2 hours
had the item out of the water and it was apparent the transom was smashed
allowing water to gush in and flood the craft! On examination the transom had
been repaired with a piece of wood screwed into rotting wood using one inch
woodscrews! A poor repair for a boat powered by a 3hp engine an accident
waiting to happen with a powerful 25hp motor!

Breaking the
rules is not good but not irretrievable, the crass insanity of taking a powered
craft on to the loch whilst under the influence of alcohol demonstrates a
complete disregard for his and the safety of others and could easily have turned into an irreversible situation. The tragedies of drowned
anglers on loch Awe comes to mind. How easy it would have been for the craft to
have sunk in the deeper water where the outcome could have been catastrophic!

There is no
question that this was a case of advanced Muppetry. A care less attitude with
the potential for tragedy! Taking a powered boat out whilst under the influence
of alcohol in the middle of the night on a strange loch! Our loch keeper Mr Xxxxx has
the boat, trailer and engine in storage and if the owner would like to reclaim
it then he should get in touch! There of course will be a fee applied for the
recovery and storage of the boat! You just
could not make this kind of stuff up!

The wider world in my view!

A pleasant surprise!

Who would
have thought that the young rookie MP Mhairi Black who ousted respected MP
Douglas Alexander in the rout of Scottish Labour would have made such an impact
in Westminster giving her maiden speech! Speaking from the heart she told of the effects the previous Con-Dem lot and the current fools on some of her constituents. A true socialist and not a dummy either she has a first class politics degree! The reason she connected with people? Here we have a real person who relayed her direct experiences something that the posh boys could not do because they do not live in the real world!

According to the Manchester Guardian over 10 million people have read her speech which is a record number for a maiden speech! It is easy to see why Labour was wiped out by the SNP not only did the SNP devour their policies they did so with a fervour which was a hundred miles away from Labours complacency! If this youngster continues in this vein then for sure we will obtain independence in a short time! A credit to the people of Scotland!

Further into chaos!

Almost without
a whisper Tim Farron has been elected leader of the puppets in Westminster! You
could not be blamed if you missed the transition process between Puppet Clegg
and Tim Farron who incidentally will make a very good leader indeed! Now
compare that process with the guddle currently ongoing in the Labour party. If
you wanted to organise a farce then this would be your model!

Interim
leader Harriet Harman firstly blundering in supporting Tory benefit cuts which
most of the constituentsy parties reject. Only Liz Kendalagrees with Ms Harman.
Ive said it before three of the candidates for the leadership are duds, only
Jeremy Corbyn is coming across with anything resembling true Labour values. In
fact I like very much his left leaning views giving a refreshing change from
the failed Tory capitalist system.

The point is
however will Corbyn be an election winner for Labour and the answer
unfortunately is a resounding no! In Scotland he would do very well as there is
now a clear demarcation line with Scotland embracing equality fairness and a
commitment to eradicating poverty and war whilst middle England stands for greed self
interest and capitalist goals!

This being
the case Corbyn would lead Labour to another defeat and frankly irrespective of
who wins the contest defeat is the only outcome. Not because the Tories are
doing a good job for they are making a complete hash of things but because Labour
is in meltdown with no hope of recovery! The husting’s continue with Corbyn’s
odds being cut from 100/1 to 5/1 to seek the leaders position.

These are
the end stages of a once proud and trustworthy party as it burns up never to
return! England has now embraced the greed ideology favouring self interest
rather than the misfortune of others and as such leaving no place for a
socialist party! The future for Labour
is bleak, thank god we are moving towards independence!

A changing society!

Quick Quid,
Sunny and Pounds to pocket to name only a few for there are hundreds out there,
couple them with the huge increase in pawnbrokers and you can see the High
Street filling up nicely! Ten years ago nobody had heard of these sharks but
under the Con-Dems they multiplied like the proverbial rabbits! It was of
course inevitable with benefits being slashed companies paying the bare minimum,
poverty was bound to increase and following the latest budget it will continue
to do so!

For the poor
in the country getting hold of emergency cash is easy paying it back however is
quite another matter! With absolutely huge interest rates and punishing penalties
for missed payments a small debt can soon turn into a very large one indeed! I
am very uncomfortable living in a society where the disadvantaged are penalised
directly as a result of government policy! It could be argued that England is
comfortable with this arrangement since they voted for it! The Tory policies
were well known before the election!

Of course
this is why we Scots are moving away from the situation. We seek a more equitable
society where care and compassion are the guiding principles where we seek to
help those who for whatever reason find themselves in hard times! Surely this
is the proper way to live, are we not all human beings! We talk much about
humanity of how we are different from the animal kingdom but our actions do not
support this assertion!

At the end
of the Tories 5 year term our society will be unrecognisable! Our public
services will have been decimated, our infrastructure in tatters and workers
powerless against big business as the Tories wipe out workers rights! A huge
new ultra poor class of people will have emerged to sink or swim by their own
devices! I am not particularly religious but the bible did warn against this occurring.

The people
of Scotland to their credit sent a stark message to Borg queen Ruth Davidson and got rid of the brutal Tories and their puppet
henchmen in favour of a new start. For our corrupt society certainly does need
one! The people of Scotland have rejected the selfish capitalist ideology. The quicker
we can dispense with Westminster the better. Our current society does not sit
well with words such as equity and caring compassion! Our society is changing but under the Tories it is changing for the
worse!

Sunday, 12 July 2015

Photo 01 - The fragrant Dog Rose and an effective pollinator the bumbler!

The next generation of anglers!

It is of
course a longstanding problem at least that is how it is being viewed by some
in the sport! Yes the lack of youngsters coming forward to enrol as members of
the angling brotherhood. But should we be surprised or concerned by this. I think
not! In my day there was a fairly limited range of recreational facilities and
for me angling was a fairly attractive option as it was for many of my
generation.

Nowadays
social media vanquishes all before any outside activity is considered and
youngsters are content to stay indoors and carry out these activities such as
Facebook, Twitter and all that type of trash and couple that with the gaming
scene where you can play on a global scale, why would they want to go out in
often unpleasant conditions to try and catch a fish!

The world
has changed beyond what anyone would have expected, there is now a veritable
cacophony of indoor activities that the outdoor ones must contend with. Compared
with the options open to the likes of my generation there is now a massive
range of activities available to youngsters with regard to recreation. There
are attempts on the go to try and stimulate interest such as the “Tweedstart”
initiative where schoolchildren are taken to a well stocked “plastic” fishery
for a day to show them the intricacies of angling.

As an
introduction to angling its a reasonable idea because it gives the children an
opportunity to see if angling might be for them. It is however “plastic”
fishing and I would imagine if any did decide to take the angling route they
would be thoroughly disenchanted with the situation found in wild fisheries! With
the advent of the no stocking policy the numbers participating in angling have
dropped like a lead balloon! Youngsters have a limited span of concentration and unless there
is action fairly early on then it most likely will be ditched in favour of a
more pleasing activity indoors.

There is no
follow up with these initiatives so we do not know the numbers of children that
go on to take up the sport! It is a lets do something as opposed to doing
nothing activity and if it has any long term benefit we do not know! It is also
worth noting that angling is not given a good press in some areas with the anti
angling brigade efficiently getting their point across!

This will
rise to the surface again soon with the carry on regarding fox hunting. Could it be
that the people who advocate non cruel sports are winning the argument! The
never ending mind numbing movement towards increasing political correctness will fuel the
cause of the anti fishing lobby! The salient point is that angling now has to
compete with many other activities many of which are accessible by staying at
home.

It may be
the case that angling will experience a downturn indeed I believe it has been
on such a curve for many years! How many youngsters have you met lochside or on
the riverbank! It could also be the case that with many youngsters once they have
traversed the 2.4 kids part of life they will be mature enough to seek out
sports such as angling in later years when they can better appreciate the
wonders of this outdoor pursuit.

I am in no
panic over the diminished interest shown by youngsters as I firmly believe that
those in later life who take up the sport will do it for the rest of their
lives and so the sport will be sustained! Angling is essentially a sport of
middle age and has been throughout my lifetime so the sudden focus on the
shortage of youngsters entering the sport somewhat surprises me! Men and women who have settled down and are looking for a challenging pastime that will bring them to the bosom of Mother Nature are in my opinion the group of people who will take up the sport on a lifelong basis. It is these people who will ensure a healthy participation level in angling! We must of
course be open and welcoming of any person who shows interest but pumping
money into schemes that cannot be shown to be effective is essentially money wasted!

To encourage youngsters it would be
of more benefit if the parents of youngsters could be sure their offspring were
entering into a sport where the participants doing any induction could
demonstrate good character e.g. free of any wayward tendencies and vetted by
Disclosure Scotland! This would immediately convey to these parents that their
children were as safe as they could be! Would
you allow your son on to a water that is frequented by people of questionable
character? Without formal and informal vetting how can a parent be sure their children are not being taught by a thug!

The future of angling does not lie with young people alone in fact I believe them to be in a significant minority. Youngsters have many life changing things on their minds I doubt if angling would rate highly. Older people have in effect settled down and will be on the lookout for worthy pastimes it is here that the future of angling lies!

Good reports
this week from both the Trout and Pike anglers with many specimens being caught
and returned to the loch. Club treasurer Elliot Fraser managed 4 very nice
Brown Trout in a short session yesterday. One Pike angler had his day made when
he landed and returned a very hefty specimen yesterday, looks like its game on!

Not for us!

I read the local rag with a significant degree of disappointment this week. An article where a Tory MSP (failed MP thankfully) was invited to the loch by the sailing club to commission their new rescue boat. Now the sailing club are free to choose whoever they like to grace their shores but let me make a point here. If we ever had occasion to ask someone to come and christen a new boat or for whatever reason we would not invite a politician. I cannot envisage any circumstances under the sun where we would invite a politician who represents a party whose speciality is bashing the poor, weak and disabled in our society and are thoroughly toxic to the people of Scotland!

Unwanted invaders!

Due to lack of time the series
on the unwanted flora and fauna will appear soon and our main website will have a
section on this when time permits.

The wider world in my view!

What did you expect!

Minister
without a clue Gideon Osborne the architect of the now infamous “pie tax”
and "Omnishambles" budget unleashed his first true blue Tory budget this week. As expected he rewarded his
well heeled pals and without the slightest tinge of embarrassment hammered the
weak, disabled and the poor! There is no question about it, he has heaped on to
the poor punishing cuts which will be successful in only massively increasing
the numbers having to use food banks! Three million families according to the
Institute of Fiscal Studies will lose around £1,000/year thanks to the savage
cuts imposed by the butchers!

Showing
their true colours and pampering to the wishes of middle England the buffoon
tried to sweeten the cuts by trying to con people into believing he was giving
them a nine pound living wage enshrined in law in 2020 for over 25s! Firstly it
is not a living wage on a par with the one in use at present. Secondly by 2020
nine pounds will not be sufficient to keep poor people above the breadline!

The £9.00
con has no meaning other than it will be slightly less than the minimum wage at
present extrapolated to 2020. If the living wage was to be calculated in a
proper manner it would work out at £12.40/hr. It is a shocking indictment on
the Tories that they cannot envisage a strategy that does not hammer those at
the bottom of the pile! A disabled couple stands to lose £4,300/year following
these cuts, a single parent will gain £8.40 but will lose exactly that £8.40
with the cut to income support! Furthermore they will lose significantly more
if they receive other work related benefits!

For the poor
of the country it’s all pain and no gain but for the better off in true Tory
tradition its all gain and no pain! The list of sanctions against the weak,
poor and disabled is huge and the bottom line is that if you are working class
you will be significantly worse off! Those paying the higher rate of tax will
see hefty gains and those leaving up to a million will not be subject to
inheritance tax. Exactly how this fits in with the definition of being on the
side of working people is beyond me perhaps the buffoon will explain this in
the coming weeks!

England voted for these so called politicians
devoid of empathy and compassion and they got their wish. I personally am sickened by the society
the Tories are creating, we are now reverting to the greed culture spawned by
Butcher Thatcher, a society where we care not for the unfortunates! It really
does not say much about the current way we live! Unfortunately the people of
Scotland who sent the Tories packing also have to suffer under their inept bungling! For
the majority of Scots it’s not looking good for the immediate future. It will
of course be another shell to add to the armoury in the fight for independence to rid ourselves of the incompetent butchers!
Who would have thought that the Tories
would be one of the main drivers in setting up an independent Scotland! Our day
of destiny comes ever nearer, thank

Sunday, 5 July 2015

It’s an
activity that once you get hooked you will be an avid participant for the rest
of your natural life. Because there is more to being an angler than catching
fish we get sucked in to the various branches and spin offs emanating from the
hobby. Speak to any real angler and soon you will realise that their interests
extend to much more than simply catching fish.

With some it’s
about the social gatherings that often go hand in hand with club outings whilst
others seek the peace and tranquillity that comes with the companionship of Mother
Nature! We all use a mix of the above depending on the occasion. I have said
many times that even in times of fish drought there is much to occupy the mind
as wherever you are with rod in hand nature unfolds all around, you just have
to open your eyes!

Two things
which trouble me however are the increase in the number of anglers consuming
large amounts of alcohol and possibly drugs, and the increase in social media sites where the
local brags spout to all and sundry how good they are at angling because they
have caught a few larger specimens.

With the
drunks I fail to see how they enjoy their angling when they are unsure as to
what day it is or where in fact they are! The amount of alcohol consumed by the “Buckfast” brigade must
surely make them unfit anglers oblivious to deep hooking damage being able to
laugh it off as if it were a mere triviality! With the consumption of large
amounts of alcohol or drugs the “anglers” judgement is impaired and it is the
fish unfortunate enough to be caught that pays the price.

These people
have no cognisance of their surroundings and as such would be equally at home
in an east end pub! These people harm our sport they damage our stocks of fish
and quite often our relationship with the indigenous people in the area. The question
begs to be asked – do they really enjoy angling when they leave behind them a
trail of carnage!

Similarly with
the new age social media brags who post photos of themselves on any sites they can gain
access to showing the results of their splendid efforts! Can these people
really be called anglers or are they just insecure people desperately seeking
attention and using angling as their carrier! These people have to the
exclusion of everything else a need to catch fish and the bigger the better! Of course these catches are meaningless unless they are posted everywhere.

If they catch
nothing or just a few parr their social media sites remain blank. They obviously
can take little from such a day! So obsessed are they with catching fish and
more importantly to them to receive the odd comment from someone in Colombia praising
their prowess in pigeon English! To a youngster starting out on their angling careers it is quite conceivable that they would be discouraged by blank days when they see the brags always posting photos of fish when they catch them.

Most of us have
matured into seasoned anglers where the need for glory is a thing of the past
if indeed it was ever an important factor. The professional brags have not
persona enough to be called real anglers therefore they must bludgeon onlookers
to try and convince readers that they are real anglers. Catching small fish is meaningless to these people as I suppose is marvelling at the wonder of their surroundings and that feeling of contentment available to real anglers will permanently evade them!

Two disparate
groups of people calling themselves anglers but I really do wonder what it is
that these people get out of the sport! The drunks are oblivious to all around
them and see nothing of the natural tapestry that is all around them whilst the
big fish seekers are so intent on catching their next big fish to display on
their social media sites and bask in the resulting glory from albeit irrelevant
people whose sole purpose in life is to comment on all manner of posts!

I really do
wonder if these people enjoy their angling, or is it just a carrier to their
ulterior goals. Most of the anglers I know are delighted just to be out
enjoying our wonderful countryside with any fish caught being a bonus
irrespective of size! Do you enjoy your
angling?

Photo 02 - Himalayan Balsam please let us know if you spot any at the loch! See next weeks post.

Mariner fix!

Have a look
at the photos and you will see the flimsy plastic handle has now been replaced
by a very sturdy steel handle which will withstand the most brutish punishment
meted out by those heavy handed anglers. Whilst the engine was being repaired I
noticed a huge gouge on the gear housing near the propeller. The propeller
itself has been bashed around and will need to be dressed soon. It seems to be
a never ending stream of significant damage and I wonder which part of the
engine will require reinforcing next! It
makes you wonder whether providing engines is a sensible thing to do!

The wider world in my view!

The process begins!

Lord Snooty
seems to be living up to his reputation and bungling on all fronts at the moment, and I wouldn’t be in the
least surprised if he was completely unaware that he is on the verge of
starting the process of a second referendum on Scotland becoming an independent
country! In a meeting between our first Minister and Lord Snooty she told him
that unless significant new powers are transferred to our government he would
be starting the countdown towards a second referendum!

The chump
who has the title of secretary of state for Scotland David Mundell and is Scotland’s
only Tory MP seem only to be able to reiterate the words of Lord Snooty!
Mundell is rapidly assuming the mantle of a puppet and has no autonomy whatsoever! The First Minister is quite correct to
demand extra powers in light of Scotland giving the SNP a historic and
unprecedented mandate for government.

Lord Snooty
at the time of the election issued many lofty words promising the people of Scotland
powers commensurate with the historic election result. We must now wait and see
if he spoke truly or as is more likely just opened his mouth and let his belly
rumble! Lord Snooty stated that he will not allow a second referendum but the
decision does not lie with him, the will of the Scottish people will decide! One thing however is certain and that is
the people of Scotland will not be denied, we will either have significant new
powers or a second referendum very soon!

A boring procession!

Today see
the staging of the British Grand Prix and I won’t be watching! In fact I haven’t
watched for the last six years sp boring is the event! I wrote a few weeks back
of the dire spectacle of the Formula 1 racing scene. News out today shows that
spectators are leaving in droves fed up of watching the lacklustre procession
that constitutes F1 racing! Clearly it is wake up time for the organisers to
see that the current system is not working! Compared to motorcycle racing it
comes across as a complete bore!

Mr Ecclestone
should either give himself a good shake or bow out and let someone with new
ideas take over! Formula 1 is a great
sport with a huge following but unless it is radically reformed quickly it will
drop to the rank of a second rate sport watched by a few geeks!

Important information for members

For fishing information please phone 07980350031

If you would like to join the club or renew your membership please click the link below to download the form.https://sites.google.com/site/stmarysloch/club-membership-1The next event for members is membership renewal. You may renew from the 1st of January until the 31st of January 2017. failure to renew within this time frame will result in the £20.00 joining fee being implemented. Joining/Renewal form click the link

Club AGM will take place in February/March 2017 date and venue to be announced.